Paris (AFP)
The toll of the Covid-19 epidemic now exceeds 8,000 deaths in France and, if the rate of deaths and hospitalizations in intensive care seems to slow, vigilance remains essential on the respect of confinement, the fourth week of which begins on Tuesday.
After having warned the French this week against the temptation to go on vacation with the start this weekend of school holidays for zone C (Ile-de-France and Occitanie), the government sent them a word of satisfaction of the Minister of the Interior.
"The French have respected the rule, have respected the confinement", which was Sunday at its 20th day, noted Christophe Castaner on France 2. "The release, it is the ally of the Covid".
Over 160,000 police and gendarmes had been mobilized. And nearly 1.4 million checks have been carried out over the past three days, he added.
The confinement period, already extended once, is scheduled at this stage in France to end on April 15. But an extension beyond this date seems likely.
A digital movement certificate must be available from Monday to justify the authorized exits, offering an alternative to the paper version in force since the start of confinement.
The General Directorate of Health called on the population to "respect (er) the instructions, strict confinement, physical distance and barrier gestures, to protect us, protect our loved ones".
Remaining particularly cautious despite the latest daily 24-hour report which revealed an improvement in the situation.
Hospitals have indeed recorded the lowest number of deaths (357) on a single day since Tuesday, bringing the total to 8,078 including deaths in Ehpad and other medico-social establishments.
- Bearish trend -
Almost 7,000 patients were still in intensive care. Again, the authorities have seen an improvement with a slowdown in admissions to these services.
Italy - near 16,000 dead, a world record - and Spain - the second most affected country with more than 12,000 deaths - also saw a downward trend in deaths and hospitalizations.
"The curve has started to descend" after a week of stabilization in "plateau", noted Silvio Brusaferro, boss of the Italian Higher Institute of Health.
In Spain, the authorities believe they have stabilized the spread of the virus. But, to reverse the pandemic, the government decided to extend the confinement until April 25.
If the French have generally respected the rules of confinement this weekend, the bright weather on Sunday nevertheless pushed some daring to venture out of their homes.
As in Paris where joggers circulated among families on the banks of the Ourcq canal or children playing in groups in building courtyards. In Morbihan, vacationers and secondary residents came with their families to the commune of La Trinité-sur-Mer, according to the daily Ouest-France.
"The deconfinement is not on the agenda, the deadline is not fixed," hammered Sunday Nunez, Secretary of State to the Minister of the Interior. "I remind you of the rule (...) we go out when it is strictly necessary".
Earlier, the director general of the AP-HP Martin Hirsch criticized the presence of "too many people in the streets, too many strollers, too many walkers" in Paris, crossed by the carers going to their work.
- Overwhelmed with patients -
"I don't even understand that we are talking about deconfinement, it continues to happen constantly," lamented Nathalie (modified first name), nurse at the Kremlin-Bicêtre (Val-de-Marne), telling of the overwhelmed services of the sick.
Forty patients with Covid-19 were transferred Sunday to "less stressed" regions, Brittany in particular, via medical trains.
In total, according to the DGS, more than 610 patients in critical condition have been evacuated since March 18, from Grand Est and Ile-de-France.
A petition called "#NePerdonsPlusDeTemps", launched by the former Minister of Health Philippe Douste-Blazy and asking to soften the possibilities of prescribing chloroquine - treatment whose use against the coronavirus causes lively debate - had exceeded 200,000 signatures on Sunday evening.
Around the world, scientists and industrialists are working to find a cure for the disease that has killed more than 68,000 people worldwide (report at 7:00 p.m. GMT on Sunday).
A clinical trial should notably start on Tuesday in France. The aim is to transfuse blood plasma from people recovered from Covid-19 - containing antibodies against the virus - to patients in acute phase.
French football, which is now questioning the outcome of its suspended competitions, has been mourned with the suicide of the Stade de Reims doctor Bernard Gonzalez, 60, who left a letter in which he said he had been tested positive for coronavirus.
© 2020 AFP